Many dental offices across the state have experienced the difficulties of finding adequate staffing to meet the needs of their patients. In the summer of 2026, the IDA conducted a stateside survey of dental offices that found: 

• 49.1% of dentists reported actively recruiting dental hygienists 

• 85% of those dentists reported it has been “extremely” or “very” challenging to recruit dental hygienists 

This confirms what every dentist already knows, dental hygienists are in short supply and demand is only growing. The IDA is meeting with key stakeholders and legislators to explore meaningful solutions so dentists can meet the needs of their patients. 

Building off of the successes in the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions, the IDA is targeting dental insurance reforms that will make it easier for patients to maximize the dental benefits they pay for: 

• Dental Loss Ratio (DLR) – Require insurers to spend a specific amount of patient premium dollars and actual patient care instead of administrative costs and profits. At a minimum, we would like to increase transparency around insurers DLRs and ensure patients understand the value of the benefits they are paying for. 

• Greater Claim Accountability - Require accurate, transparent claim decisions by prohibiting insurers from downcoding procedures to reduce payment for care provided, and require disclosure of AI use, while prohibiting AI from being the sole basis for denying care or determining medical necessity.  

• Protect Patient’s Freedom of Choice - Protect patient choices by ensuring they receive their full benefit whether he or she sees an in-network or out-of-network dentist and require insurers to honor a patient’s assignment of benefits to his or her dentist. 

In 2026, a bill, HF 2395, was introduced that would have banned the addition of fluoride-based additives to all public and private water supply systems statewide, eliminating community water fluoridation throughout the state. While we were able to defeat this effort, we anticipate this isn’t the last that we will have to deal with this issue at the Statehouse and we are ready to act if and when needed.

As was the case during the 2026 legislative session, the state is facing a significant budget shortfall that will require the legislators to get creative to fund the state’s Medicaid programs. We will continue to focus on ensuring the $2.1 million increase the dental Medicaid received in 2025 is not cut and remains in full effect.